Which equipment is designed to protect electrical systems from transient overvoltages?

Which equipment is designed to protect electrical systems from transient overvoltages?

• A. Surge protector
• B. Transformer
• C. Capacitor
• D. Inverter

Answer: (A)

Transient overvoltages are short, high-energy spikes that can come from lightning, switching, or faults. A surge protector is built to handle those events by clamping or diverting the spike so the voltage seen by connected equipment stays within safe limits. It uses components like metal-oxide varistors to respond quickly and shunt the excess energy to ground, and its protection level is defined by its clamping voltage and joule rating. The other devices serve different roles: a transformer changes voltage levels during normal operation, not to absorb spikes; a capacitor stores energy for smoothing or filtering, not to guard against rapid, high-energy surges; an inverter converts DC to AC or provides backup power, and isn’t intended for transient surge protection. So the surge protector is the one designed to protect electrical systems from transient overvoltages.

Transient overvoltages are short, high-energy spikes that can come from lightning, switching, or faults. A surge protector is built to handle those events by clamping or diverting the spike so the voltage seen by connected equipment stays within safe limits. It uses components like metal-oxide varistors to respond quickly and shunt the excess energy to ground, and its protection level is defined by its clamping voltage and joule rating. The other devices serve different roles: a transformer changes voltage levels during normal operation, not to absorb spikes; a capacitor stores energy for smoothing or filtering, not to guard against rapid, high-energy surges; an inverter converts DC to AC or provides backup power, and isn’t intended for transient surge protection. So the surge protector is the one designed to protect electrical systems from transient overvoltages.